There is much controversy as to whether stop-keys will eventually displace the older fashioned draw-knobs.
Fig. 11. Console of Organ in College of City of New York. Built by The E. M. Skinner Co.
A few organists of eminence, notably Edwin H. Lemare, are strongly opposed to the new method of control, but the majority, especially the rising generation of organists, warmly welcome the change. It is significant that whereas Hope-Jones was for years the only advocate of the system, four or five of the builders in this country, and a dozen foreign organ-builders, are now supplying stop-keys either exclusively or for a considerable number of their organs. Austin, Skinner, Norman & Beard, Ingram and others use the Hope-Jones pattern, but Haskell, Bennett, Hele and others have patterns of their own. It is a matter of regret that some one pattern has not been agreed on by all the builders concerned.[1]
CONTROL OF THE STOPS.
In older days all stop-keys were moved by hand, and as a natural consequence few changes in registration could be made during performance.
Pedals for throwing out various combinations of stops were introduced into organs about 1809; it is generally believed that J. C. Bishop was the inventor of this contrivance.
Willis introduced into his organs pneumatic thumb-pistons about the year 1851. These pistons were placed below the keyboard whose stops they affected.
T. C. Lewis, of England, later introduced short key-touches arranged above the rear end of the keys of the manual. Depression of these key-touches brought different combinations of stops into use on the keyboard above which they were placed. Somewhat similar key-touches were used by the Hope-Jones Organ Co. and by the Austin Organ Co.